Wichita State vs. Gardner-Webb (North Carolina) Game Thread

[AZ Shocker]

Saw the potential, strength, smarts, and savvy last year as a Freshman...and will say the next NBA'er from Shockerland is....

[molly jabali]

Nice win for our beloved Shocks. Never fear, Burton and Mo are here and they are here to play bully ball. My favorite play was ES diving over the table and the assist by DD to go the same route to get him and make sure he was okay. I love watching our Frosh guards play. Wade is a Keeper for sure. Burton is shooting lights out compared to last Season. He always D's it up and when he is playing the 2 or 3, he gets us even more rebounds. Our foe tonight Danced last year with 3 returning starters back. Their best player was only 1 for 10 tonight and our D. played a part in that.

THIS!!!!! I could not stop smiling over this Eric/Dexter moment.......what a team mate effort!

Mo has been fun for me to watch, but I loved the fact that Dexter could not throw it in the ocean and it affected NONE of the rest of his game...he gets it.

[wufan]

Dennis was loose and having fun! Loved it! Udeze was loving the contact and played great. Stevenson, Burton, and Wade appeared to be men on a mission.

I found coaches comments after the game interesting. Said that Burton hasn’t been getting enough time in practice and that he kept “blowing up” our sets.

[Jhook89]

Udeze is the best inside finisher since Carl Hall - change my mind.

Was actually thinking he reminded me of Hall while watching the game. Mo needs a good nickname.

[wufan]

I thought Mo was his nickname.

[pogo]

So impressed with the way the Shox play DEFENSE. None of this reaching and grabbing that used to happen Probably alot goes to the fact these guys are REALLY quick and athletic.

[Jhook89]

I thought Mo was his nickname.

Morris to Mo is like Jonathan to Jon. IMO it’s not a nickname. He needs something like the Bull or the Grim Reaper. Idk lol a guy who plays like him seems like he needs a nickname

[wufan]

Big Mo, Mo Mo, Hulk Smash

[TheShocktocles]

Big Mo, Mo Mo, Hulk Smash

I like Big MO.

[TheShocktocles]

Agree with all the comments on Mitgaard. He and Big MO were demons on the offense glass last night. I too think he can take some of those rebounds back up for shots. It depends on where he grabs them. If he close to the basket he can dunk it or make a point blank layup. If he gets fouled he is pretty good free thrower. Otherwise his throwing it back out to 3 point shooters is good. Too bad IPBC was in foul trouble.

Hope we continue with our toughnes's in the paint. Going to need it against ORU. They are really beefy and rebound pretty good. Go shocks.

[asiseeit]

Cdizzle is right about AM not being the focus of the offense but screens and screens and screens which helps
create space, lanes and open shots for team mates and then he hits the offensive boards. On many
occasions I've noticed that our guards often get rebounds around the basket because the big guy has
blocked out so well. The offense or defense does not drop off with him in there. Now, last year when he finally
got an opportunity he made it pay off. Mo has done the same this year and I really like what I've seen the past
two games. The question will be if he can sustain or even improve against better interior players? The good
thing is the depth we have at center. When one struggles or is in foul trouble we have three more. Same can
now be said for perimeter players, as well. Depth and defense - that is our strength !

[pie n eye]

Gregg Marshall is one of the best coaches in college basketball.

When he has good players he wins championships.

We have a lot of good players.

[pinstripers]

Mo

[Stickboy46]

After this game we now have 7 players averaging between 8.5-12 ppg.

[pie n eye]

-Someone already said it but I think there’s a good chance we get back in the KP top 20 (10? 5?) defense rankings this year. The roster is full of athletic, smart, coach able, willing defenders. When we get rim protector extraordinaire Echinique back look out.
-Also wouldn’t be surprised to see us top 20 in KP offense efficiency either. We appear to finally have a roster full of makers. The passing on display the last two games has been a thing of beauty. The offense is usually behind the defense at this point in the year but this team is trying to make an exception.
-If guards win games in college basketball then we’re going to win a lot of games.
-I was privately down on Stevenson to start the year and he’s making me regret that. His all around game is as good as ever and his on ball defense is much better than last year. He seems to have a knack for hitting a shot when we need one.
-Burton is a freaking beast. I love having him on the floor as a point forward.
-Did I mention our great ball handlers? It seems like we have at least three on the court at all times. I like that ratio.